Posted Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 16:46Updated Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 20:24

Rourkela: CNN-IBN's expose on an illegal adoption racket in Rourkela a few weeks back has triggered anti-government protests in Orissa. CNN-IBN had reported on how several licensed adoption agencies were infact selling babies.

On Tuesday, the state youth Congress held a rally demanding resignation of Chief Minister Navin Patnaik.

The state government had promised action within a week of the racket being exposed, but nothing’s been done yet. The adoption centres are still running.

The youth congress says there should be a CBI enquiry as the minister and higher officials are involved.

"We are thankful to CNN-IBN for bringing this matter to light. We will continue to protest if the state government sits quiet," said the president of the state youth Congress, Rohit Pujari.

"This government will not protect anybody who is in this racket. We are doing a thorough enquiry and after that stern action will be taken," said Woman and Child Welfare Minister, Pramilla Mallick.

CNN-IBN had exposed in its report that only 11 agencies in Orissa have got the license to give babies in adoption, but the number of illegal adoption centres are manifold, with Rourkella having six of them.

CNN-IBN presented that at least six adoption centres in Rourkela, including Global Village and Sahayog, have sold hundreds of babies in the name of adoption.

Earlier children from another adoption agency in Pune—Preet Mandir had been rescued after CNN-IBN telecast its series "The Baby Snatchers."

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Denmark on Monday suspended all adoptions from India after a news report claimed that some of the children who have been adopted in the Scandinavian country could have been abducted. I am concerned about the conditions that have surfaced,» said Carina Christensen, the consumer and family affairs minister.

Denmark temporarily suspended all adoption from India until we feel totally safe that the adoptions from India can be made in a reassuring way. Christensen also ordered Danish authorities to investigate AC International Child Support, one of Denmark's two government-approved adoption agencies. The organization, known as AC, was accused in a DR1 television documentary of having received children from an orphange in western Indian city of Pune without the birth parents' approval.In the documentary that was broadcast Sunday, Ramesh Kulkarne claimed he temporarily placed his two children at Preet Mandir orphanage while finding a job after his wife died. Kulkarne told DR1 that he for years was barred from seeing his children at the orphanage. In April, Kulkarni learned that the pair had been adopted in Denmark in 2003 through AC International Child Support.

If the Indian authorities' investigation show that Ramesh Kulkarne wrongfully had his children taken away from him, it is a very tragic case and a big tragedy,» AC board chairman Anders Christensen said. We expect the Indian authorities will pursue the case and find out whether a crime has been committed in connection with the legalization of the (adoption) documents,» he added. The western Denmark-based agency said it had stopped cooperating with Preet Mandir in June 2003 after repeated rumors about the agency's management's use of unethical methods. Over the years, AC had found homes for 26 children from Preet Mandir. It was unclear when AC started cooperating with Preet Mandir.

The documentary showed the orphanage manager, J. Bhasin, filmed with a hidden camera by DR1 and saying a child cost $7,000 (¤5,245). Indian adoption authorities have a maximum $3,500 (¤2,622) to be paid by per case, covering orphanage and caring costs and paperwork in connection with the adoption, according to AC. Children that are adopted to Denmark cannot be bought for money,» Christensen said. That is in violation of international rules.

The DR1 channel said Indian authorities earlier had investigated child trafficking allegations against Preet Mandir.The broadcast did not indicate that DR1 had sought comment from India's adoption authorities, the Central Adoption Resource Agency _ called CARA _ or from the orphanage. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Preet Mandir and CARA after office hours failed. The suspension of Indian adoption also affected Danadopt, Denmark's second adoption agency, which has not cooperated with Preet Mandir.

In 2006, 514 children born abroad were adopted in Denmark, of whom 34 were born in India.

Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin is setting up an investigation into the case of the Indian boy allegedly kidnapped from his home and later adopted by a Dutch couple.

'This is a very serious case,' Ballin is reported as saying. 'Think of the repercussions for everyone involved.'

The boy was allegedly kidnapped in 1999 and sold to a children's home with a false letter of acceptance from the parents. He was then brought to the Netherlands by a Dutch adoption agency and adopted by a Dutch couple.

TV show Netwerk reported on Monday that the Indian police want the child returned to India for DNA tests and to rejoin his biological parents. According to the Netwerk report the Dutch agency has known the child had been kidnapped since 2005.

Meanwhile, adoption specialist René Hoksbergen says it is possible that more Dutch adoption agencies are dealing in children stolen in India. He says 53 children have been brought to this country from the children's centre involved in the Netwerk case.

New Delhi: Even as the owner of Preet Mandir, J S Bhasin, held a press conference to claim his innocence, CNN-IBN's Special Investigation Team continues to receive complaints from families for whom Preet Mandir was a trauma.

An Indian couple in Singapore emailed CNN-IBN their story.

The Bhatias had adopted a one-year-old boy, Dinkar, from Preet Mandir.

They adored their cute baby but the child could never sit up and that made them wonder if something was the matter.

J S Bhasin , in an email assured the Bhatias that the child would soon sit and crawl like a normal child.

However, the Bhatias decided to take matters in their own hand and had Dinkar re-examined.

A certificate from Pune's Sancheti hospital revealed that Dinkar suffered from cerebral palsy, but Bhasin still denies any wrong doing.

"I deny this completely. I deny it in toto," says J S Bhasin.

Dinkar's story is a clear case of Preet Mandir and J S Bhasin lying about the medical history of a child, just for a fistful of dollars.

Pune: The Maharshtra government has taken it's first hesitant steps in curbing child Trafficking in the state.

All Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) across the state have been asked to stop sending children to Preet Mandir.

Activists from NGOs across Pune demonstrated outside the office of the Commissioner for Women and Child Development, asking him to take action against those involved in the adoption racket exposed by CNN-IBN's Special investigation Team.

Says a member of an NGO, Nakul Kante, "It is our demand that Preet Mandir be completely shut down."

With voices like Kante's rising to a crescendo and demanding that the guilty be taken to task, the Child Welfare Department department finally overcame it's inertia and took the first steps to curb the racket in the state.

Children under the care and protection of Preet Mandir who were sent there by CWCs will now be taken out and put in government-run children's homes. All CWC's have also been instructed to stop sending children to Preet Mandir.

Says Commissioner, Women & Child Development, DV Desawale, "Until our next order, no children will be sent by CWC's to Preet Mandir. "

But NGO's who know how deep the racket runs say this is just first step.

Says Ingrid Mendonca, who works for Actions for The Right of The Child, "It is going to be a very long battle even though they have accepted some of our demands."

The question now is whether the government has the courage to ban organisations like Preet Mandir and put them completely out of business.